Perspective Chapter: Functional Human Brain Connectome in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

Abstract

Historically, the success of DBS depends on the accuracy of electrode localization in neuroanatomical structures. With time, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI have been introduced to study the structural connectivity and functional connectivity in patients with neurodegenerative disorders such as PD. Unlike the traditional lesion-based stimulation theory, this new network stimulation theory suggested that stimulation of specific brain circuits can modulate the pathological network and restore it to its physiological state, hence causing normalization of human brain connectome in PD patients. In this review, we discuss the feasibility of network-based stimulation and the use of connectomic DBS in PD.